Here is an interview with HR McMaster, the first Trump National Security Advisor and CBS News Contributor, a side effect aired on May 4, 2025 on “Facing the Country with Margaret Brennan.”
Margaret Brennan: We are now turning to retired Lieutenant Lieutenant McMaster. During his first term as President Trump, he served as national security adviser, and he was the author of "War with Our Own: My Journey to Duty at the Trump White House." It's great to have you back to us.
Retired Lieutenant Lieutenant McMaster: Hey, I'm glad to be with you, Margaret.
Margaret Brennan: So, you've been here. Mike Waltz is no longer a national security adviser. CBS reports that his deputy, Alex Wong, will also leave his role. But then, as of Friday morning, we found Wong was still working. It is unclear what the National Security Council’s makeup looks like or how long the Secretary of State will be under his consultation with the president. What does this mean for U.S. national security?
McMaster: Margaret, I think that's important because I think it means, it's a struggle with our role in the world and how some people in government think about the role of the United States in the world. I think Mike Waltz is the first person in the United States, but he is an internationalist and prioritizes our alliance. He knows, I think that's it - rightly, Putin won't stop until he stops. He is therefore an advocate of Putin’s powerful approach. And I think there are some worldviews in the government that have a big worldview, you know, they favor layoffs or disengagement in complex challenges abroad, hoping to prioritize the Western Hemisphere, the North American Department of Defense. You will find that in the discussion with Congressman Turner, it is related to the defense budget and priority in the defense budget.
Margaret Brennan: So you think it's a policy argument, not just a signal message error, Mike Waltz created the channel he accidentally included journalists.
McMaster: Yes. I think it's a policy issue, a worldview issue, but it's also an understanding of the role of the National Security Council staff and Mike Waltz's running national security personnel and national security personnel, while Alex Wong is still running. It is indeed the staff that allow the president to push his agenda to get the best analysis, give the president the best advice, and give him a variety of options. Obviously, during the deliberations these days, President Trump was not very patient during the deliberations. That's why I think he might think that the NSA staff is the barrier, not the best tool to really push its agenda and integrate all elements of state power and like-minded partners’ efforts to promote American interests.
Margaret Brennan: I think this is an interesting point when Turner put forward a specific reference point to the National Security Council during his first term, which Turner believes is why Turner believes that it is the reason he was imprisoned in the first imprisonment each related to Ukraine. Do you think this is something that makes him distrust the Council? Why would he take advice from someone like Laura Loomer, the most appropriate activist who has racist attacks on some members of the council?
McMaster: You know, Margaret, I think there are three types of people in any government. Those who are there to give the president the best advice, those who don’t have such a person, but want to manipulate decisions that are consistent with their own agenda. These are people inside and outside the government. Sometimes there is a third group who sometimes plays the role of president, perhaps saving the country and the world from the president. Groups 2 and 3, if you have an effective national security decision-making process that can offer multiple options for presidents, they tend to oppose this process. They tend to oppose national security advisers. I think what you're seeing is how easy it is to have some people distrust in the president's ears or a wedge between national security personnel and national security advisers there.
Margaret Brennan: You mentioned a different worldview of some of the people who are currently suggesting the president, especially about our allies. In Europe, we saw an interesting decision in Germany this week. Their domestic intelligence agency investigated a far-right party known as the AFD. Due to its anti-immigration, anti-Muslim stance, they declared it an extremist group. Their leaders made the Holocaust trivial. They called for the deportation of non-white citizens because it violated the German constitution. This sounds like a family issue. However, the Vice President and Secretary of State have taken a very public statement here. Rubio called it "disguised tyranny." Vice President Vance also weighs the trade-offs here. Do you think this is desirable when the party’s leaders have such a difficult history? Can you explain it?
McMaster: Part of what you know is Margaret, which is what you introduced on the show before about this kind of women, peace and security initiative, and what I'm going to say is, some radical Dee agenda before that. It's like an equal and opposite reaction, it's international. This is one of the reasons why some people in the United States regard Putin as Western civilization or Christianity, etc., which is obviously an injustice view of him. But I think what is related to that is, this emphasis, you know, lay off employees, take care of yourself, get out of the world. I think these are related. However, I think it's interesting that I think the Trump administration has the potential to replicate the flaws of Obama's administration's policies. Because what you're seeing now is the root of some people in the Republican Party seeing all kinds of ills in the world, just like neoconservatives, who especially traced back to the 2003 Iraqi invasion. So, blaming yourself, other Americans create impulses related to the risk of disengagement for the ills of the world and the associated impulses, which I think, are challenged.
Margaret Brennan: HR McMaster, thank you for sharing your insights. We leave it there and come back.